In a typical house of the type used for a single family residence, one or more faucets are provided on the outside for attachment to a fitting on the end of a garden hose. The owner of the house usually plants shrubs and bushes around the outside of the house and although the shrubs or bushes are initially so planted as to allow access to the faucet, they usually grow to an extent such as to make access to the faucet quite difficult. In many cases, the person trying to operate the faucet will be scratched from engagement with the shrubs or bushes. The problem has heretofore been handled by pruning back the shrubs or bushes to allow access to the faucet. This solution is not always satisfactory, however, because it requires the home owner to repeatedly prune back the shrubs or bushes as they continue to grow and very often, the required pruning is such that the symmetry of the bushes is destroyed and/or an unsightly gap in the shrubbery may occur. In some cases, the bushes or shrubs may be damaged by a person trying to reach a faucet or during pruning, to lead to disease thereof. Also, even though the bushes or shrubs may be pruned back, the possibility of being scratched from engagement therewith is quite real.
Another possible solution would be to relocate the faucet at a different position on the outside of a house or a position spaced outwardly from the house beyond the bushes or shrubbery. This solution, of course, is quite expensive.
The prior art has not recognized the possibility of operating a faucet from a position spaced outwardly therefrom, beyond bushes or shrubbery. Also, even if such a possibility were recognized, the prior art has not provided any devices which would be suitable for the purpose. The devices of the prior art which have been provided for operation of a valve from a distance away therefrom have been designed for specialized purposes such that they would not be suitable for use with a conventional faucet of the home type, without making substantial modifications. For example, the Drane, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,355,544 shows a device for operating the pet cock at the drain of a radiator of a model-T Ford car, but the device would not be suitable for a conventional home type faucet. Similarly, the Block U.S. Pat. No. 1,181,565 and the Bolkhardt U.S. Pat. No. 1,827,861 show devices for operating valves of hydrants or the like which are located at a considerable distance below ground, but such devices would not be suitable for the home type of external faucet.